On Friday, August 15, ONE members from the Pembroke Pines Charter High School, located in Pembroke Pines, Florida, met with Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) to talk about the accomplishments of the school’s ONE chapter, which has over 150 members including students and faculty.

The passionate students, along with their teacher Ms. Danielle De Pas, spoke about how they got involved with the ONE Campaign and how they are energizing their peers to become educated about extreme poverty. The school’s charter has been so successful that the ONE movement is now spreading beyond Pembroke Pines High School into the neighboring school districts.

In response, Representative Hastings talked about the importance of engaging young people in the political process early on so that they can help make a difference for generations to come. He hopes that the upcoming election will bring an unprecedented number of young people out to vote who want their voices heard on issues such as extreme poverty.

At the end, he commended the work of the ONE Campaign and slipped on the ONE bracelet to show his support. We thanked him for cosponsoring PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and urged him to continue to support legislation that will alleviate global poverty.

The students, who are organizing a ONE event to be held at the school in January, invited the Congressman to attend and provide a few remarks. We are hopeful that he will be able to be there to show his support.

-Sara Paterni, FL Field Organizer

(Photo from left to right: Andre Riley, Rafael Batista, Rep. Alcee Hastings, Danielle DePas)

Compassion has flooded the hallways of Libertyville High School in Illinois. I and my fellow students are taking action for the fight against disease and poverty and today, on March 19, our school will become the first official “ONE High School” at the same time Libertyville becomes an official “ONE City.”

Next month, we’re organizing a massive community benefit concert that will take place on April 18, 2008 at the high school’s field house. Just like the roots of the ONE Campaign, this started as just a few students’ idea and has grown into a movement.

What inspires me the most is how quick more students are to join. Our group continues to grow and we’ve already signed up more than 580 new members in just two days of tabling. Between our school and town, the Libertyville community is truly taking on to the idea that we all can come together as ONE community to change the world.

-Ryan Steel, ONE member and LHS senior, Libertyville, IL

Some of you may remember the posts earlier this year describing the work of teacher Matt Cone at Rock Bridge High School. Well, Matt continues to do amazing work with his students and this week the seniors in his Contemporary Issues class had the unique experience of talking with the First Lady via video conference.

Many of the questions posed dealt with the President and Mrs. Bush’s recent trip to Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the work that ONE and other NGOs are doing to help the world’s poor. As if talking to the First Lady was not cool enough, the students wore ONE shirts to emphasize their commitment to ending global poverty and disease.

Check out some of the student comments about the experience after the jump.

-Katie Andrews, Field Organizer (KS, OH, MI, MO, WV)

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I have a lot of volunteers, all of whom are dedicated and amazing people because they give up their free time to helping the world’s poor, but every once in awhile, I meet a group that leaves me slack-jawed. Chip Huber and his students at Wheaton Academy are one such group. As a school, WA has worked with ONE-partner, World Vision, over the last six years to build a medical clinic and school in Zambia. I have always thought this was “cool”, so when Chip contacted me to come speak to his class two-week intensive “Winterim” course on poverty and social justice, I thought it would be great to meet these “kids” in person.

We talked about the Millennium Development Goals and the upcoming congressional and presidential races and how the class could make an impact. I left the school excited about helping them make their first advocacy project a reality, but when Chip sent me a link to the blogs the students had been writing I was speechless. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite of the ten, but I found this line to be particularly powerful and in line with ONE’s mission:

I considered the possibility of presenting some perfect way to tell the world about AIDS, poverty, injustice, hunger, and water issues, but I don’t think there is one. The only way to spread this in a lasting way is one person or community at a time. I really believe it’s important (though not necessary) to have a relationship with someone in order for them to be influenced by your ideas and passions. As I’ve been writing this, I’ve realized that I’m contributing to the problem of ignorance that bugs me so much, and after being saturated with information over the past two weeks, that needs to change. –Josh Ellis

I encourage you all, especially if you are a person of faith, to read all ten student blogs – and while you’re doing so, think about the lives that will likely be saved because these inspiring students chose to take a “Winterim” on poverty and social justice and not bowling.